We have owned our Cooper since 04 and I am now doing a few mods to her as I can afford it. Picked up a Magna flow exhaust system from Ebay and a K&N Typhoon filter kit from another forum. Both items are like new but a lot cheaper. Now I need to decide the next mod.

 

Get your cylinder head polished, that will work well with your current mods and will yield the best power gain you can achieve from a Cooper.

 

How much does it cost, and where does one get it done? What do you think of a throttle body?

 

Thats some good info on the throttle body.

 

Try MyMiniParts.com or M7 or Webb Motorsports. Add a Schrick cam for even better results.

 

Wow, the cylinder head and cam look like big $$$$ options. The cam itself is $550 and MyMiniParts lists installation service at nearly $1000. Cylinder head (are Cooper and S the same?) runs $1700-$1900.

I'd like to hear about any other options for Cooper performance. Mostly I'm interested in low end torque and response rather than raw horsepower (that's what the S is for).

 

William, did you install your Typhoon and Magnaflow yet? I have the same mods and found the combination produced much better throttle response.

rkw, I was wondering about the throttle body, too. Anybody out there do this mod on an MC yet?

Dave

 

There are a few owners of the throttle body on NAM, with positive results: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...542#post848542

 

The Cooper and Cooper S use the same head.

 

I have not installed them yet. Was really wanting a set of headers to go with it. But I have not found any thet I can afford yet.

 

After the CAI, the rear swaybar, the EBC pads, the M-7 STRPs, the ss brakelines and the Helix catback, I did the UniChip [mapped for a Cooper]. It gave me more HP and torque for about $650 installed AND my mileage has actually improved!

 

Installed the filter today and I will try and do the exhaust next week. The filter looks really nice and helps clean up the engine bay.

 

besides engine mods, you can do suspension, brakes, rims and tires. If you stiffen up the suspension, springs and dampers, then add a rear sway...you will feel gains in cornering ability, and you can maintain speed through corners as the car is more planted and responsive, and able to handle more lateral G force. In order to handle more speed through the curves, and quicker stops, upgrade your pads and rotors. You don't need a big brake kit, you can simply switch to performance pads like Ferodo or Hawk or something along those lines. Then get upgraded rotors to match the pads. You can greatly increase you stopping ability for relatively little cash. By going with a light weight wheel and tire combo, you can improve acceleration and handling....along with mileage. Reducing your wheel weight from 25lbs to 17lbs or less is a WONDERFUL thing. Plus, you can add some individual style to your MINI. Sticky high performance summer tires will also help you to corner much faster, holding your speed through the corners, so you can get out of them quicker.

Engine power is great, but on a normally aspirated vehicle, the costs are high for the gains received. Forced induction makes it easier to pump more power for reasonable costs. Make the car fun with other things, style ques, your own personal style.

 

Magnaflow installed

I am so happy with this system. The sound is so mellow. everyone had me thinking it was going to be loud but instead it is just perfect. The exhaust plus the K&N intake really lets the engine rev quicker. Two great improvements and since they were used I got a great deal.